Executive Committee
Bernard J. Lapointe, Congress Chair
Eric M. Flanders Chair in Palliative Medicine; Director, Palliative Care McGill, McGill University; Chief, The Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Division of Palliative Care, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada
Vasiliki (Bessy) Bitzas
Head Nurse, Palliative Care, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada
Linda Crelinsten
The Council on Palliative Care, Montréal, QC, Canada
Kappy Flanders
Past Co-Chair, The Council on Palliative Care, Montréal, QC, Canada
Mary Ellen Macdonald
Associate Professor, Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
Christopher MacKinnon
Psychologist; Faculty lecturer, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
Suzanne O'Brien
Executive Director, Hope & Cope, Montréal, QC, Canada
April O’Donoughue
President, O’Donoughue & Associates Event Management Ltd., Montréal, QC, Canada
Devon Phillips
Program Advisor, Palliative Care McGill, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
David Kenneth Wright
Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, and Co-Director, Nursing Palliative Care Research & Education Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Programme Committee
Carla Alexander
University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
Hitesh Bhanabhai
McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
Maryse Bouvette
Bruyère Continuing Care, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Shirley Bush
Bruyère Continuing Care, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Harvey Chang
Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada
Robin Cohen
McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
Justine De Monteiro
Mount Sinai Hospital Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
Rose DeAngelis
West Island Palliative Care Residence, Kirkland, QC, Canada
Teresa Dellar
West Island Palliative Care Residence, Kirkland, QC, Canada
Dominique Dion
Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosement, Montréal, QC, Canada
James Downar
University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Justine Farley
Palliative Care Physician, Montréal, QC, Canada
Zelda Freitas
CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Ile-de-Montréal, Côte Saint-Luc, QC, Canada
Hinda Goodman
Hope & Cope, Montréal, QC, Canada
Jeffery Hall
Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada
Marc Hamel
McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
Leonie Herx
University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
Cory Ingram
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
R. Sean Morrison
Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
Elena Neamt
West Island Palliative Care Residence, Kirkland, QC, Canada
Andrée Néron
Hôpital Notre-Dame, Montréal, QC, Canada
Zeev Rosberger
Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada
Deborah Salmon
McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
Hal Siden
Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Antonio Vigano
McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, QC, Canada
Anna Voeuk
University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Jean Zigby
Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada
Senior Advisory Committee
Sharon Baxter
Executive Director, Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Ann Berger
Chief, Pain and Palliative Care, The National Institutes of Health, Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA
Myra Bluebond-Langner
Professor, True Colours Chair in Palliative Care for Children and Young People, University College London, Institute of Child Health, London, UK
Gian Borasio
Chair in Palliative Medicine, Service de soins palliatifs, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois,
Lausanne, Switzerland
Ira Byock
Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Providence Institute for Human Caring, Torrance, CA, USA
Susan Cadell
Director, School of Social Work, Renison University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Tanguy Châtel
Sociologist, Volunteer in Palliative Care, Société française d’accompagnement et de soins palliatifs, La Celle Saint-Cloud, Yvelines, France
Harvey Max Chochinov
Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Shelly Cory
Executive Director, Canadian Virtual Hospice, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Betty Davies
Adjunct Professor and Senior Scholar, School of Nursing, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
Mellar Davis
Professor of Medicine, Director of Palliative Care, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA, USA
Liliana de Lima
Executive Director, International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, Houston, TX, USA
Johanne De Montigny
Psychologist, Montréal, QC, Canada
Luce Des Aulniers
Anthropologist, Associate Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
Deborah Dudgeon
Senior Scientific Leader, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, Kingston, ON, Canada
Betty Ferrell
Professor and Director, Nursing Research and Education, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA
Jean-Marie Gomas
Head of the Palliative Care Unit, Hôpital Sainte Perine, Paris, France
Stein Husebø
Leading Consultant, National Dignity Center, Care for the Frail Old, Bergen, Norway
Tom Hutchinson
Professor, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
Stephen Liben
Palliative Care Program, The Montreal Children's Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada
Mary Lynn McPherson
Professor and Executive Director, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA
Balfour Mount
Professor Emeritus in Palliative Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
David Praill
Chair, ehospice; Past Chair, Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance, London, UK
Gary Rodin
Head, Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Ros Taylor
Clinical Director, Hospice UK, London, UK
Anna Towers
Physician, Supportive & Palliative Care, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Special feature
Official Territorial Acknowledgement & Welcome
The 22nd International Congress and McGill University recognize that we are meeting on Indigenous land. Montréal sits on the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka (People of the Flint), also known as the Mohawk. The island called “Montreal” (Tiotia:ke in the language of the Kanien’kehá:ka) has historically been a meeting place for other Indigenous nations, including the Algonquin people.
The Significance of Acknowledging Traditional Territory: A connection to the land is inextricably linked to Indigenous identity. For many Indigenous peoples in Canada, and increasingly in broader Canadian society, traditional territory acknowledgements are an important cultural protocol practiced at important events as a way to acknowledge and honour Indigenous peoples’ connections to their ancestral lands.
Therefore, the Congress Opening Plenary will begin with a territorial acknowledgement.
This acknowledgement aims to show recognition of and respect for Indigenous Peoples – of their presence both in the past and the present. It is a part of establishing healthy relations with Indigenous communities, a key to reconciliation, a process to which the Congress is committed.
Congress Logo: The Hummingbird

The hummingbird has, in Native American traditions, represented a messenger between worlds, helping to maintain balance between nature and spirit.
This tiny bird appears in Native lore as a creature that opens the heart and teaches us to appreciate the magic of being alive.
The hummingbird helps us awaken to the beauty of the present moment.